The invention relates to exercising apparatus in general, and more particularly to improvements in apparatus for exercising the ankles between the lower legs and feet of patients or other persons who desire to or must exercise one or both ankles, e.g., following an operation.
The ankle between the lower leg and the foot of a person is actually a dual joint. The ankle joint proper (namely the upper or first joint) is disposed between the lower end of the tibia and fibula or calf bone. This joint permits backward and forward or extension and flection movements. A second or lower joint of the ankle is disposed between the astragalus or anklebone and the underlying os calcis or heel bone. This joint permits a movement which can be termed side tipping and involves the so-called pronation and supination of the foot. The first joint defines an axis which extends transversely of the respective lower extremity and permits dorsal extension (lifting of the foot) as well as a plantar flexion (lowering of the foot). The second joint defines an axis extending from the front side of the ankle downwardly and rearwardly to the heel of the foot.
Heretofore known proposals to exercise the ankle involve holding the foot by hands and manually causing the foot to perform the desired movements about the one and/or the other axis. This is a tiresome procedure which must be carried out by a highly skilled person, i.e., such manual exercising is expensive irrespective of whether it is offered to a patient as a postoperative or other treatment in a hospital, sanitarium or a like establishment, or at a patient's home (e.g., by a visiting nurse). Another problem which arises when the exercises are to be performed by hands is that the cost of treatment is greatly increased due to the fact that the exercise must be repeated many times and is likely to stretch out for many weeks or even longer. Still further, relatively small hospitals, sanitaria, nursing homes and like establishments often cannot afford to maintain on the payroll a highly skilled person who specializes in the exercising of ankle joints, especially if such treatments are infrequent. The same holds true for specialists who are to visit a patient's home in order to exercise one or both ankles of such person for required periods at a time as well as to render a requisite number of treatments over a span of one, two or more weeks or months.